Conveyor drive roller with cooling means
AssigneeVan der Graaf Inc.
InventorAlexander D. Kanaris
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A conveyor drive roller for moving a conveyor medium. The conveyor roller has a hollow drum which is rotatably connected to a first and a second stationary shaft. An internal gear assembly is disposed inside the hollow drum and couples a motor to the hollow drum such that operation of the motor causes rotation of the hollow drum about the first and second stationary shafts. The hollow drum is configured to hold a liquid lubricant in contact with the internal gear assembly. Liquid lubricant flow paths are provided to move the liquid lubricant from inside the hollow drum to outside the hollow drum via the first or second stationary shafts, and vice versa. The liquid lubricant flow paths are configured for connection to a means for cooling the liquid lubricant.
Claims42
A conveyor drive roller for moving a conveyor medium, said conveyor drive roller comprising:
- a hollow drum rotatably connected to a first stationary shaft and a second stationary shaft;
- an internal gear assembly disposed inside said hollow drum, and operatively connected to said hollow drum, said internal gear assembly being configured to operatively couple to a motor, wherein when said motor is coupled to said internal gear assembly, operation of said motor causes rotation of said hollow drum about said first and second stationary shafts;
- a first liquid lubricant, flow path passing from inside said hollow drum to outside said hollow drum through said first or second stationary shaft, said first liquid lubricant flow path being configured to permit a liquid lubricant be moved from inside said hollow drum to outside said hollow drum;
- and
- a second liquid lubricant flow path passing from outside said hollow drum to inside said hollow drum through said first or second stationary shaft, said second liquid lubricant flow path being configured to permit said liquid lubricant be moved from outside said hollow drum to inside said hollow drum;
- and
- wherein said first and second liquid lubricant flow paths are configured to connect to a liquid lubricant cooler positioned outside of said hollow drum.
The conveyor drive as claimed in 1, wherein said second lubricant flow path comprises an outlet inside said hollow drum, said outlet being positioned to discharge liquid lubricant onto at least a portion of said internal gear assembly.
A method of cooling a conveyor drive roller having a) a hollow drum rotatably connected to a first stationary shaft and a second stationary shaft, b) a liquid lubricant disposed inside said hollow drum, and c) an internal gear assembly disposed inside said hollow drum, and operatively connected to said hollow drum, said internal gear assembly being configured to operatively couple to a motor, wherein when said motor is coupled to said internal gear assembly operation of said motor causes rotation of said hollow drum about said first and second stationary shafts, said method comprising the step of:
- circulating said liquid lubricant inside of said hollow drum through a liquid lubricant cooler positioned outside of said hollow drum.
A method of making a conveyor drive roller in a size smaller than required to avoid overheating by intrinsic heat dissipation during continuous operation of said conveyor drive roller, the method comprising the steps of:
- forming a hollow drum with said smaller size and rotatably connecting said hollow drum to a first stationary shaft and a second stationary shaft, with an internal gear assembly disposed inside of said hollow drum and operatively connected to said hollow drum, said hollow drum being configured to hold a liquid lubricant in contact with said internal gear assembly, said internal gear assembly being configured to operatively couple to a motor, wherein when said motor is coupled to said internal gear assembly operation of said motor causes rotation of said hollow drum about said first and second stationary shafts;
- and
- configuring said first and/or second stationary shaft to permit circulation of said liquid lubricant inside of said hollow drum through a liquid lubricant cooler, wherein said liquid lubricant cooler is capable of cooling said liquid lubricant circulated therethrough to maintain a temperature of the liquid lubricant inside of said hollow drum below a critical temperature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.